


Freedom Of Choice

by red_starshine



Series: Holidays With Chas & Constantine [6]
Category: Constantine (TV), Hellblazer & Related Fandoms
Genre: Barbecue, Divorce, Fireworks, Fluff, Fourth of July, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 12:52:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4263927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_starshine/pseuds/red_starshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Isn’t that what this bloody holiday is all about, cooking huge chunks of raw meat over an open flame and making things blow up?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freedom Of Choice

There was something strange about being an Englishman celebrating Independence Day in America.

“You’re overthinking this,” said Chas. The black charcoal briquettes were heaped into a lopsided pyramid in the center of the black barbecue grill, and Chas had a cobweb-covered bottle of lighter fluid in one hand and a dusty box of matches in the other. Sitting on the grass next to him was a metal pan, containing the largest cut of raw steak John had ever seen. It had been marinating in a mixture of olive oil and minced garlic for a day, and John could smell the garlic even from the shaded doorstep of the mill house.

“Not overthinking things,” said John, looking at the mill wheel slowly turn. “Just thought it was odd, that’s all. ”

Chas struck a match against the side of the box. It didn’t ignite. He tried twice more but the match still refused to light. He grumbled and then tried to light another match from the box.

“Mate, those things are ancient,” said John, slouched over. “You’d be better off rubbin’ them together for all the good it’ll do.”

Chas dropped both matches into the grill. “Think you can get it going?”

John looked at him blankly for a long moment before standing up. “I think so.” Walking over to the grill, he placed his hand on top of the mound of briquettes, and suddenly the grill was engulfed in flame.

“Jesus! What the hell are you doing?!” Chas shouted, his hand shooting out for John’s to yank it out of the fire before he realized that John wasn’t screaming in pain and the skin on John’s hand wasn’t even red. Only the briquettes around his hand were burning.

John gave him an odd look and withdrew his hand, which was no longer on fire, from the grill. The briquettes had finally caught, and the edges were starting to turn from black to grey.

After Chas’s heartbeat returned to normal, he ran his fingers through his hair nervously. “I thought you’d use your lighter, but I guess that works too. Thanks for the heads-up, by the way.”

“Aw, did I scare you?” asked John with an insincere grin. “Sorry, mate.”

Chas leveled him with an unimpressed stare. “Keep that up and you’re not getting any steak.”

John raised one of his eyebrows. “Are you actually threatening to send me to bed without any dinner?”

The door to the mill house creaked open. “We ready to grill?,” said Zed as she stepped out with her sketchpad and a small box of drawing charcoal. Letting the door swing shut, she sat down on the doorstep next to John.

“Soon. If John doesn’t set himself on fire first,” muttered Chas.

While they waited for the coals to heat up so Chas could put the steak on the grill, Chas sat down on the doorstep between John and Zed with a cold bottle of beer. It was quiet except for the sounds of the mill wheel turning and Zed’s stick of charcoal moving across the blank paper. She paused, squinting at what she’d drawn, before smudging the charcoal slightly with her finger.

A loud boom sounded somewhere beyond the trees surrounding the mill house. Several birds flew from the trees, and Zed started slightly, her stick of charcoal jerking over the page. Zed stared down at the drawing like she was seeing it for the first time and blushed bright red.

Taking a sip from his beer, Chas leaned over to see what Zed had drawn. It was a nude man reclining on a bed, the sheets twisted around his body. While the face was only a few rough lines , it was still enough to be able to tell that the man was John.

Not looking at Chas, Zed flipped to a blank page and began to draw again, her eyes growing distant. Chas looked away when it became obvious that her drawing was of two nude men in bed this time, one much taller than the other.

Zed loudly sighed, closing her drawing pad. “Let me know when the food’s ready,” she said. “I think I need some time to clear my head.” She disappeared back into the mill house astonishingly fast.

John glanced at the door closing with a puzzled expression on his face. “What’s with her?”

Chas took a long swallow from his beer to fortify himself. “I guess there are a few downsides to being able to draw the future.”

John shrugged. “One of the first things you learn about magic is that there’s usually a nasty drawback hidden somewhere. With Zed’s set of talents...yeah, can’t say I’m surprised she’s having a hard time turning it off.”

Chas stretched out his legs, looking up at the sky. A quiet, content silence settled between them. He did not want to have to tell John what he was about to say next, and had been putting it off for days. He took a deep breath. “So I got something in the mail a few days ago.”

“Hmm?” said John, not very interested.

“The lawyers sent me some papers to sign. For the divorce,” he added awkwardly.

John remained silent, his face unreadable to Chas.

“I signed everything and sent it back out yesterday,” Chas continued. “I guess there’s still a few more steps before Renee and I are actually divorced, but it should happen soon.”

Chas still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He and Renee had been separated for over a year, but the actual divorce process hadn’t progressed very far until after Geraldine’s soul had been stolen by Faust. Even during the year they’d been living in different states, Chas had held out hope that there was still a chance for him and Renee to get back together; that there was a perfect balance he could find between hunting demons with John and keeping Renee happy.

But there just wasn’t. And finally admitting that made him feel like a failure.

“I know you tried hard, Chas. To make it work,” said John, sliding his hand over Chas’s bare arm. “But sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do no matter how hard you try, yeah? Then it’s better to just pull the plug.”

Chas was silent, letting John’s words sink in.

John leaned closer to Chas and stroked the back of Chas’s head, his fingers playing with Chas’s hair. “Perhaps firing off some of those M80s and rockets after we eat would make you feel better, eh?” said John with an almost painfully wide smirk. “Isn’t that what this bloody holiday is all about, cooking huge chunks of raw meat over an open flame and making things blow up?”

That got a small chuckle out of Chas. “Sort of.”

“Then maybe I should get into the spirit of the holiday.” John summoned a small orb of dark magical energy in his hands, suspended between his palms. It fizzled, sending off small red sparks. “See, not all magic is demons and hellfire and death,” said John. He paused and reconsidered what he’d just said. “All right, most of it is, but not this particular spell.”

Chas looked at it curiously. “So what’s it do?”

John grinned and stood up, the red sparks from the orb reflected in his eyes. “Just watch.” He quickly thumped his hands together, smashing the orb.

The magical energy shot up from his hands and into the sky in a burst of smoke before bursting with a loud ‘BANG’ that made the trees shudder. Dazzling red lights bright enough to be seen in the noontime sun spiraled down from the sky, like a volley of shimmering fireworks.

Chas looked up at the glowing sparks raining down, a look of astonishment on his face. He held out his palm, catching several of the cool red embers in his hand and watched as they slowly winked out. "John, that’s--."

“Amazing?” John grinned. "Thanks, mate. It’s more of a party trick than serious magic, but it does come in handy if you want to be your own one-man-pyrotechnics-show."

Zed poked her head out the door. “Is someone shelling the mill house?”

“Nah,” said Chas with a smirk. “John’s just being a show off.”

"Show off? Me?" John just shook his head, a small grin on his face. “Honestly. No pleasing you people, is there?”

 


End file.
